


Blades of a Ballet Dancer

by Katrinova



Series: Yuuri Week 2017 [4]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, Post-Canon, Romance, Yuuri Week 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-12-07 07:38:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11618991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katrinova/pseuds/Katrinova
Summary: When word gets out that Yuuri helped create his record breaking routine Yuri On Ice, the world wants to know if he thinks he could do solo work. Yuuri says no, everyone else disagrees. Obviously, everyone else is a traitor.Part of Yuuri Week 2017Day 4- [Theme: On Ice]





	Blades of a Ballet Dancer

**Author's Note:**

> Day 4 is everything "on ice" with the optional theme "practice."
> 
> The reference to the “Woody costume” is of course inspired by a baby Yuzuru Hanyu.

Yuuri couldn’t believe it when he read the headline Phichit forwarded, followed by an obnoxious string of dancing emojis. Or maybe that was just his mood after reading the joke in print on his phone screen. Him? Choreograph? He’d never even choreographed one of his own routines fully and they thought he could do it professionally?!

Yuuri decided it must be a slow news day in the skating world.

“I don’t see why you’re so hesitant,” Phichit said later on video chat. “Remember the improvised pair skates we sometimes did in Detroit before Ciao-Ciao yelled at us to stop goofing off? Those were pretty good! They wouldn’t break a world record, but maybe with some polishing they could have.”

Yuuri wasn’t upset per say, but it brought up a lot of things.

If Yuuri was honest with himself, before Victor he’d always wanted more creative input. It wasn’t that he’d disliked Celestino’s choices, but it felt like he lacked a personal connection with some of his past programs. He would increase the difficulty of his step sequences and change up some of the spirals when he felt he could do more, but that had been the most he could bring himself to ask of his former coach. He blamed it on his own inability to ask for things back then. Victor had other ideas.

“Sounds like you trained in a very creatively stifling environment,” Victor later stated plainly when Yuuri brought up his past experience and why he was so reticent about considering choreography.

“It wasn’t like that,” Yuuri insisted. Celestino was an amazing coach. One look at Phichit’s success was proof of that. He had always been kind, but Yuuri knew he lacked a connection with him. His anxiety for one was something Celestino never did understand during the years they worked together, but he’d understood Yuuri’s need for solitude. “I think we just lacked a degree of...compatibility.”

Seeing that headline now brought those old feelings to the surface. Victor being his coach and choreographer was so much different. Save for a few pitfalls in the beginning, it was almost surreal how well they worked together. He’d never had that much creative control and was constantly surprised whenever Victor asked him what he wanted; from the music to the technical aspects. Victor never made a decision without his input. Victor had asked for his opinion on every part of the composition of his free skate.

That was part of the reason why Yuri On Ice meant the world to him. It was his love letter to skating, his own career and to everyone who supported him. It was him learning to appreciate himself more. It was something he’d created together with Victor. Yuri On Ice had been the first time he’d felt comfortable expressing his complete self on the ice.

He had always wanted a hand in choreographing his own routines. Now he had someone who listened, even when he couldn’t always speak his mind. But the idea of doing it on his own? Anything he’d ever come up with while warming up or burning off stress outside of compulsive figures looked more like a dance he’d practice in Minako’s studio. That was his background, his true forte...

“Personally,” Victor cut into his train of thought. “I think there’s a lot of skaters out there who’d like a Yuuri Katsuki caliber step sequence for themselves. In fact,” Here he scrutinizes Yuuri with a finger pressed to his lips and actually looked excited at the prospect. “I wouldn’t mind one myself!”

Yuuri sputters but can’t deny how breathtakingly touched Victor’s praise made him feel.

* * * * *

Even though Yuuri had made the conscious effort not to discuss either the article or whether it was something he wished to pursue with anyone besides Victor and Phichit, who both already knew, news apparently traveled fast.

“YUURI-KUN.” Yuuri still winced. He’d almost forgotten that Minami was also performing at this ice show.

Since they’d competed together at World Team Trophy and won, narrowly edging out Yurio, Georgi Popovich and the rest of Team Russia, he’d come to appreciate Minami’s presence. He had mellowed a bit. Just enough that Yuuri didn't feel like slipping out the nearest fire exit whenever the honey blond ball of energy was nearby. His enthusiasm was not as overbearing as it had been and instead was just the right amount of grounding during the competition.

The teenager in question dropped his duffel bag and raced over to where Yuuri was leaning against the boards and hopped up next to him.

“I heard you’re choreographing now!” He exclaimed, swinging his legs excitedly.

“‘Now’?” Yuuri questioned. “Wait. How did you know about that?” He asked instead. The skating website it came from was fairly marginal. Certainly it wasn’t part of mainstream sports news.

“Everyone knows about that,” Minami answered cryptically. “Your entire fan club knows and they want answers!”

Yuuri chose not to acknowledge the idea that such a ‘fan club’ even existed.

“It’s nothing I’ve decided on,” Yuuri answered honestly and then shrugged. “Even after I moved up to Seniors I always at least had help with my exhibitions. My former coach had fairly exclusive creative control over my other programs.”

“But it’s something you’re considering?” Minami asked, a twinkle in his eye. “Because that would be really cool! I bet a lot of people would love to have a program choreographed by  _the_ Katsuki Yuuri!” He said dreamily.

“I sincerely doubt that,” Yuuri said dubiously. “My resume on that front is nil, remember?”

“That’s even more reason for you to try it out for yourself, and then—” He went sparkly-eyed as he was hit with an epiphany. “Then next season you can choreograph _my_ short program!”

“W-wait. What? How did you get onthat? I haven’t even made a decision about my own programs yet!”

Minami wasn’t listening. He stared at him beseechingly and starry-eyed, his body vibrating so much in excitement he was shaking the boards Yuuri was leaned against.

Yuuri just sighed.

* * * * *

Choreographing was an entirely different scope. It needed a comprehensive understanding of scale and tempo, pacing and required elements. Performing it was one thing, but actually creating something on his own...

“Need I remind you that you picked the Woody costume and theme after you saw Toy Story the first time? You were 8,” Yuuko teased and then winked at him. “I think you’d be good at it. You are known for your musicality, Yuu-kun!”

Yuuri should’ve known confiding in his friends would only lead to more conflicting thoughts. He couldn’t believe he was actually considering this.

“You know the program requirements. Anything you don’t already know you can _learn_ ,” Minako insisted. “Everyone has to learn something at some point. No one is born with a built-in encyclopedia of the ISO judging system. Not even Victor Nikiforov quad flip’d out of the womb with a stack of already made choreographies, you know.”

“Minako-sensei...” Yuuri groaned.

One thing was clear, everyone wanted to see him suffer.

* * * * *

The more Yuuri thought about it the more he realized he already knew the answer. Only one thing still held him back from fully embracing the idea. To him, it wasn’t simply the idea of choreographing that filled him with trepidation, it was the same reason why Yuri On Ice meant so much to him.

The next time he went with Victor to practice, he was ready to share why.

“Do you really think I can do it?” Yuuri asked.

“Have I ever been dishonest with you? Of course I do,” Victor didn’t need clarification and replied without hesitation. He then stayed quiet, sensing Yuuri had more to say.

Yuuri worried his bottom lip, unsure how to word what he was feeling. He felt more relaxed as Victor started rubbing between his shoulder blades. He exhaled.

“The thing is, Victor,” Yuuri began. “It’s not that I think I can’t do it. What you and everyone else said, I know you’re right. But... what makes my routines so special is the fact that I get to make them with you. One of my favorite memories from last summer is the time we spent pouring over them together. I love your input and your creative flare. There’s no one better than you. I'm just worried that if I did it myself it wouldn’t mean as much to me...”

Victor hadn’t yet said anything and Yuuri tilted his head back to look at him. He startled at the tears building in his fiance’s eyes.

“W-Wait! Don’t cry! Oh my god, here—” 

“I’m not. I’m just...you say the most wonderful things when I’m not at all prepared,” Victor sighed, brushing off his concern. “Yuuri, this isn’t an all or nothing arrangement. We can trade off, or work together. So please don’t worry about that.”

Yuuri stopped fretting as sudden pressure wrapped around his back and pulled him forward.

“Yuuri,” Victor said fondly, propping his chin on Yuuri’s shoulder. “I know you can do it. And anything you’re unsure of I can help you with. No one wants you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with. If you try it and don’t like it that’s perfectly acceptable, okay?” Yuuri nodded hesitantly. “But if it’s because you think you can’t then I’ll have to disagree. I didn’t choreograph Yuri on Ice by myself. That was  _your_  story. It required  _your_  input. I only helped flesh it out.”

“There’s always more stories to tell, aren’t there?” Yuuri asked quietly. He still couldn’t believe he was considering this. What Victor said was true though. Choreography couldn’t exist without a story, the emotional element and personal touch were necessities. That’s what he’d been missing while he’d worked with Celestino.

Victor hummed in his ear and placed a kiss on his neck. “I want to hear them too. You’ve been quiet long enough, so how about this? After you warm up try coming up with some sequences on your own. I always worked on multiple routines at the same time, even if I never used them.”

Yuuri nodded again and pulled away. He slipped off his hard guards and stepped onto the ice as he mulled over Victor’s advice. He could always count on Victor to give him something to think about. This time he grabbed his MP3 player as accompaniment; something he typically did while burning off anxious energy at Minako’s studio. He flipped over to a playlist he had of potential music he was considering skating to and set it to shuffle to a random song.

The familiar scrape of steel against ice helped clear his head as he let his thoughts drift away along with the music playing in his ears. When he practiced ballet he rarely had a specific routine he danced to. Unless Minako was overseeing his training session he tended to just let his body do whatever felt right.

Usually he’d be envisioning various pivots, transitions, where to fit a grand jeté, whatever most fit the musical score and his interpretation. Applying it to the ice didn’t feel much different. He turned and shifted his weight to the outside edge, the steps always came easiest to him. As the tempo slowed he imagined what would be a good place to add a biellmann spiral. Perhaps a hydroblade. He’d always wanted to incorporate one of those. Then maybe a triple axel—no, a combination would simply fit better...

The sound of sprayed ice filled the air as he stopped short. He ran a palm down his face in dismay. Damn it...that actually wasn’t too bad.

Yuuri knew he’d reached at least a partial decision and from the knowing and proud look on Victor’s face, he did too.

“Don’t stop now, Yuuri,” Victor practically purred to him, eyes never leaving his form. “That was just starting to feel  _really good_.”

_Lord help me_ , Yuuri thought with a blush.

The next time he saw Minami he tentatively agreed to his request, but not until next season. Then had to plug his ears at the ensuing screech and whoop of joy. Yuuri flailed then froze in place as the teen also latched himself around his torso and arms in a bear hug. Some things never changed.


End file.
